No Matter What (107 page)

“Is that who I think it is?”
India
asked, squinting slightly as she tried to get a better look at a familiar face across the other side of the room.

“Who?” Charley said, following
India
’s gaze.
 
“Oh, my God!
 
It is, you know. Has she had her hair cut?”

“Layla Boyd.
 
I was wondering what had happened to her.”

Once it had come out that Layla Boyd had been the woman that Michael Walsh had slept with, the woman who’d helped break up his marriage, her career had gone on somewhat of a downward spiral.
 
Kenny had dropped her like a shot, for starters, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he wanted her out of his life.
 
She’d managed to bag herself a ‘Viper’ shoot on the back of the scandal and it had sold millions because she’d decided to be far less subtle than
India
had been during her shoot all those years ago, but after that she’d all but disappeared.
 
Word on the street had been that her father just couldn’t get her the work anymore, and the contacts that Michael had initially given her just hadn’t wanted to know, so she’d turned to soft porn and glamour modelling.

She didn’t look a lot different to how
India
remembered her.
 
If anything she was even more obvious than she had been before.
 
Her hair was, indeed, a little shorter, but still as big, and that wasn’t the only thing.
 
Even from across the room
India
could tell she’d had her breasts enlarged.
 
Far too much in
India
’s opinion.
 
Her clothes were still too short, still too tight, and her make-up still far too thick and heavy because, the sad thing was, that underneath all that front Layla Boyd was actually a very pretty young woman.
 

As far as
India
was aware, after everything that had happened, she’d never tried to go near Michael again.
 
The thought of him being with her in the first place still hurt but it would have been so much worse if he’d gone to her again.

Tonight was the first time
India
had seen her out and about in
Hollywood
, and she suspected it was more to do with who she was with than anything else because Layla Boyd certainly hadn’t been on the guest list.
 
But the man she was with most definitely was.

“Who is
he
?” Charley asked.
 
“He is
gorgeous
!”

“JJ Foster,”
India
replied.
 
Charley just gave her a questioning look.
 
“Don’t you watch ‘Covert One’?”

‘Covert One’ was a new TV show that had only been on screen in the
U.S.
for a few weeks but it was gaining in popularity by the day.
 
It told the story of a secret undercover Police unit that were called upon to investigate strange and unexplained events in and around Los Angeles, and it was tipped to be huge, with broadcast in the U.K. happening just days after it was shown in the U.S. gaining it fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
It had also catapulted JJ Foster well into the limelight.

Thirty-three years old, 6ft 2 inches tall with short, dark brown hair and eyes to match, JJ Foster was very, very good looking, classically handsome, and that never hurt when it came to catching the female viewer’s eye.
 
And he’d certainly built up a bit of a female following as far as
India
was aware.

Charley turned her attention back to JJ, who was now talking to Kenny.

“No.
 
I don’t watch it.
 
But I might just start.
 
He’s dreamy.”
 
She looked at
India
.
 
“Do you know him?”

India
shook her head.
 
“No.
 
Kenny does, a bit, but I’ve never met him before.”

“
I
wouldn’t mind meeting him,” Charley said, not taking her eyes off the handsome young actor.

“Charley!”
India
laughed.
 
“You’re a married woman with a baby on the way!”

“Call it my hormones.”
 
She looked at
India
again.
 
“How do you know so much about all this anyway?
 
When do
you
get time to sit down and follow a TV series?”

“I don’t.
 
I usually wait for the boxed sets.
 
But I’ve been doing my research for a reason in this case.
 
They want me to guest star in a few episodes of ‘Covert One’.”

“But you’ve never done TV work before, have you?”

“No.
 
But there’s no reason why I shouldn’t.”

“Are you going to do it then?”

“I haven’t made my mind up yet.”

“Do you get to snog Mr Gorgeous over there?”

India
laughed.
 
“Why do I feel about twelve years old around you sometimes?
 
Oh, hang on.
 
Look.”
 
She nudged Charley.
 
“Barbie’s coming over.”

Layla approached them, smiling that smug smile of hers and batting her false eyelashes, although quite who she was batting them at
India
had no idea.
 
It wasn’t as if she and Charley were going to be impressed.

“
India
!
 
Lovely to see you.
 
It’s been such a long time.”

Charley looked at
India
and raised her eyebrows.

“I wish I could say the same, Layla, but I’d be lying.”
 
India
gave Layla an equally false smile back, although Layla was managing to keep hers firmly intact, despite
India
’s reply.

“I see you kept the name Walsh,” Layla went on, obviously determined to get in as many digs in as she could.

“You got a problem with that, Layla?”

“But you’re not married to Michael anymore.
 
Are you?”

India
was all too aware of what Layla was trying to do but it wasn’t going to work.
 
She was well past all that now, so she just ignored the comment and indicated over to JJ.
 
“Got your claws into some other poor bastard I see.”

Layla gave a mock sigh and put her hand on her chest as she looked at the young actor.
 
“Isn’t he adorable?”

“He’s a dream,”
India
said, with a smile that got nowhere near the eyes.

“I’d better get back to him, actually,” Layla smiled, batting those eyelashes again.
 
“He misses me when I leave him alone.”

“I bet he does.”

Charley had to stifle a giggle, taking a drink to stop herself laughing, which only caused her to cough instead as it went down the wrong way.
 
Layla threw her a look then turned her attention back to
India
.

“I’ll see you around then,
India
.”
 
She gave her one final look up and down and smiled that smug smile again.
 
“And, I have to say, you look really good tonight.
 
For your age.”

India
and Charley looked at each other as she tottered away in her four-inch heels, laughing out loud as Bobby ran over.

“What did
she
want?” Bobby asked, fanning himself with a cocktail napkin.

“A fight.
 
But she wasn’t going to get one.”
 
India
looked at him.
 
“Where’s Miguel?”

“Behaving himself, hopefully.”
 
He was still watching Layla.
 
“Is Miss Plastic Fantastic with JJ Foster?”

“Apparently so,”
India
replied, downing her beer.

“Am I the only one here who doesn’t know who he is?” Charley asked.

Bobby let out a gasp and looked at her.
 
“You don’t know who JJ
Foster
is?
 
Where have you been
living
, missy?
 
Don’t they
have
TV in Vegas?
 
Has madam here told you they want her to guest star in ‘Covert One’?
 
Both Miguel and I have said she’d be mad to turn that down.
 
The chance to be close to the lovely JJ, oh, it’s a dream ... I don’t know why she has to even think about it.”
 
He looked at
India
.
 
“Why
do
you have to think about it angel?”

“Because it’s an acting job, Bobby, not a date.
 
There are things I have to consider.”
 
She finished her drink and put the empty bottle down on the table behind her.
 
“Right, I’m off to the ladies then I’m going to find Kenny.”
 
She kissed Charley on the cheek.
 
“Bobby here can fill you in on anything you need to know about the wonderful Mr Foster.
 
I’m sure he’s a walking encyclopaedia on the subject.
 
See you later.”

She was on her way over to the bar, her mind on a million different things so she wasn’t really concentrating on where she was going, when she bumped into – quite literally - someone coming round the corner.

“Hey, I’m sorry.
 
That was my fault.
 
I was in a world of my own.”
 
His voice in real-life was just as sexy as his TV character and
India
couldn’t help smiling as she looked up at the man in front of her.
 

“That’s ok.
 
I wasn’t exactly concentrating myself.”

He held out his hand, smiling back.
 
“JJ Foster.”

She took his hand and shook it.
 
“
India
Walsh.”

“I know who you are ... sorry; I didn’t mean it like that.
 
I meant ...”

India
laughed, letting go of his hand.
 
“It’s ok.
 
I know what you meant.
 
It’s fine.”

He let out a nervous laugh, pushing a hand through his hair.
 
“Great way to make a first impression, huh?
 
Almost knocking you off your feet.”

“Don’t worry about it.
 
I’ve had worse introductions.”

He smiled at her again.
 
“You were ... you were really great in the movie by the way.
 
It was a difficult role.
 
It must have been tough to do some of those scenes.”

India
stuck her hands in her pockets and smiled back.
 
“It was easier than you might think actually.”
 
She shrugged.
 
“I had a lot of stuff going on at the time that helped me get the character just right.
 
At least, I hope I got her just right.”

“Oh, you did.
 
You did.”

“Thank you.”

He looked around, and
India
guessed he was checking the whereabouts of Layla Boyd.
 

“I ... I’d really like to talk to you some more,
India
,” he said, turning his attention back to her.
 
“I know they want you to guest in a few episodes of ‘Covert One’ that we’re filming right now and ... and I’d like to tell you more about the show.”
 
He smiled again, and it looked like he was finally starting to relax a bit.
 
Just a little bit, though.
 
“If ... if that’s ok.
 
I mean, I know you’re here with Kenny Ross and you might want to ...”

She couldn’t help thinking how much like a tongue-tied schoolboy he was and it made her smile.
 
Less than two minutes in his company and all she’d wanted to do was smile.

“I’d love to talk some more, JJ.
 
Yeah, I’d really like that.”

He visibly relaxed, his shoulders loosening immediately and
India
couldn’t help but laugh.

“I won’t bite, you know.”

He pushed a hand through his hair again, laughing that nervous laugh.
 
“It’s just that, I’ve loved everything you’ve done ... Oh God, now I sound like some stalking fan ... but I am a fan, really.
 
Just, not a stalker.
 
And I think you’re an amazing actress, I really do ... this isn’t going quite how I’d planned.”